[cmayo]

I have two dogs: a ~50lb female (Bella) who was originally a stray and a ~60lb senior male (Milo) adopted from the local shelter 11 months ago. Both are very sweet dogs, zero aggression.

My neighbors have a young (2yrs old) male dog (Max) that they pretty much ignore and keep chained to a tree in the front yard when he isn't running loose in the neighborhood. Max is very gentle with people and other dogs (and loose cats/kittens/bunnies/chickens) in the neighborhood, but seems to absolutely hate my male dog, often snarling and lunging at him through the fence.

I would love to adopt Max. He is the just sweetest, most gentle dog and has never had a real family (or been to the vet), but I'm worried about his aggressive behavior toward my senior male dog. I had Max for a sleepover/trial a few months ago and he did okay, but always seemed a bit tense and on the verge of jumping all over Milo (and actually did a couple of times).

What are my chances of integrating Max into my family, and how might I go about resolving his aggressive behavior toward my male dog?

 

[Shell]

I think it would be a disservice to your senior dog to put him through the stress of integrating a dog that has shown aggression towards him, not to mention the risk of injury to him.

Integrating would likely involve months or even years of crate and rotate slowly moving into carefully planned interaction, and never ever unsupervised time together

The fence aggression might be mainly barrier aggression which can tend to be worked with better than targeted or generalizeddog aggression. Since you say he is OK with dogs about the neighorborhood, its hard to say if its the fence or your male being the bigger factor in the aggression. With two younger dogs, I might say go for it with a huge amount of caution but it is stressful for all dogs involved and just doesn't seem right to do to a senior.

Can you network the dog into a reputable rescue adopter or foster home? It takes more time usually, but I have successfully placed dog aggressive dogs that I fostered.

 

[storyist]

I'm with Shell. If the current owner is willing to give Max up and you want to help the dog, work on finding an adopter who can take him who doesn't have a dog that brings out aggression in Max, which probably means no other male dog. I live in a house of barriers because of two dogs who don't get along, I didn't knowingly go into that situation but raised both from puppies, and the passionate dislike of one for the other came later. I wouldn't knowingly take on such a situation under any circumstances and often wonder how it affects the non-aggressor of my two.

 

[LeoRose]

I agree that it wouldn't be fair to the resident male to have to put up with him while you try to work through the issue.

I've had a dog aggressive dog, and have done crate and rotate. I never, ever, want to have to do it again.

 

[cmayo]

Thank you all for your thoughts. I was hoping for an easier resolution to the aggression but you're certainly right that I didn't adopt my senior dog to see him put into a stressful situation. I'll be on the lookout for another answer for Max.

 

[Shell]

I want to add that many dogs who show dog aggression under some circumstances can still live in homes with other dogs with proper matching of personality and reasonable caution. Sex selective aggression is common in some breeds and many of them still do fine with dogs of the opposite sex.
Leash and barrier aggression can be more common towards strange dogs then household mates.
Etc.

And some people are more than happy to only have one dog or to find a dog that gets along with their cat for example.

I don't think, given what you have described, that YOUR house is the right situation but more to say that there are options for rehoming Max so if he is otherwise a sweetheart, he stands a good chance.

I have fostered and had adopted out several dogs with varying levels of dog aggression, including one who had a fairly serious dog-on-dog bite attack on her record (required vet care, was fully disclosed to adopter) and my own dog Eva who has some issues with small dogs and with barrier aggression but lived happily my late male for 5 years.